Good-bye World
by jelispar
Summary: A rewrite of AOA the way I think it should have happened. Sticks pretty close to the book, with some twists of my own. Rated for violence and death.
1. The Age of Apocalypse

AN: Welcome to my pet project, my baby

AN: Welcome to my pet project, my baby. Finally I am emotionally ready to except whatever criticism you deem to throw my way. If you read the summary then you know this is a rewrite of AOA. If you don't know what AOA is, read first paragraph. I tried to keep it from getting too dark, but it was tough. If you read the "graphic novels" (I'm sorry but I get such a kick out of that term) then you'll recognize some scenes. I tried to stick pretty close to the original while making it my own at the same time. Keep in mind I've been sitting on this for over six years now, so some of this was actually written when I was thirteen. Marvel, don't sue me, their all yours and I admit that, just wish you'd take better care of them. Please don't flame me, it took a lot of coaxing from a lot of people for me to post this to begin with.

The time: does it really matter? The day: who knows. Who really cares anymore? At another time today would be known as Thanksgiving Day, but now today is just another day, another horror that the humans have to face. Today the people of America find it nearly impossible to find anything to be thankful for. Today is just another day in the terrible time known as: The Age of Apocalypse. A time in which the beginning of a new day is marked with the screaming of Apocalypse's slaves from his slave pit, and ends with the screaming of the humans outside his gates. 

However, his slaves really have nothing to scream about. They don't have to live out on the streets. They don't live like the other humans, in constant fear. In fear of the powerful mutants that have taken over their country, the human mutates who have given all they have to become equal to the mutants, and worst of all they fear each other. But mostly they fear His Highest Lord, En Sabah Nuir, also known as Apocalypse. They envy the slaves that live in the pits because the slaves truly have nothing to fear. They will at least live long enough to be able to say; "I have lived". They will at least be able to say that they were able to spend some small part of their life in comfort. They have the privilege of having clean clothes to wear, fresh food to eat, a blanket to sleep on, and a shower at least once a week. Something that those on the streets dream of.

There are mutants living in these pits also. These mutants have proven themselves to be genetically inferior to the all the mutants who are privileged enough to be under Apocalypse's command. These mutants are worse off than the humans out on the streets. These mutants are tortured worse than any human ever could be. The humans can at least look forward to a quick painless death. However, the unfortunate mutants are given to the Beast to do with, or away with, as he pleases. 

Although his physical appearance does resemble that of a beast, it is not the reason for his name. Dr. Henry McCoy is, however, called the Beast because he finds pleasure in taking Apocalypse's genetically inferior mutants, and turning them into his genetically altered works of art. He takes them and, as he likes to say, "I find out what makes them a mutant in the first place, what makes them tick, and then I crank it up to its maximum capacity. Sometimes my results are small, and even I must admit that my bedside manner leaves much to be desired, but its so much fun to watch them scream." 

One such mutant is the doctor's best "patient". His name was Jamie Madrox. He was a straight A student and an all pro athlete. He was born a mutant, but his powers left much to be desired, and so he was handed over to the Beast. His unique gift was the ability to split his body into a dozen exact replicas of himself, along with the gift of being an external. An external is a mutant that, unless he wills to take his own life, will live forever. So Dr. McCoy made it possible for him to split his body into two hundred replicas. This was not done without taking a great toll on Madrox's body and his mind. It also created one of Apocalypse's greatest weapons, the Madri Priests. Priests who are totally bent on purging the planet of it's "inferior" human inhabitants.

* * * * * * *

There are many that dare to oppose Apocalypse. One of those groups is the _Human Resistance Force_. It is located in the heart of the city once known as London, England. The leader of the HRF is Dr. Moira McTaggert, assisted by Dr. Bolivar Trask. Moira is also aided by a former mutant, Miss Emma Frost, known to her former mutant associates as the White Queen. She was once one of the most powerful telepaths on the planet, however, a full frontal lobotomy soon changed that. Dr. McTaggert is one of the leading geneticists on this planet. There is only one above her, the mysterious man known only by his code name, Sinister. Dr. Bolivar Trask is a robotics and animatronics expert. He has constructed one of the greatest weapons the HRF has against Apocalypse. 

He calls them the Sentinels. They are twenty-five foot tall robots who are able to scramble Apocalypse's sensors, fly into an area populated by humans, and transport them to the human held continent of Eurasia. Altogether the HRF is a great foe of Apocalypse, but not the greatest foe.

* * * * * * *

It is called Heaven, and it is situated in the middle of Apocalypse's capital city, Manhattan. It is run by a man named Warren Worthington III, code named Angel. In this war he has remained like Switzerland, totally neutral in every way. Not quite. By working both sides of the fence he has kept himself alive all this time. He has all the contacts, from Apocalypse to Sinister to Bolivar Trask. Whether you need to contact someone, or you want the latest news from Apocalypse, Warren is the man to talk to. However, he is also a mutant, and he will not be able to stay neutral forever. Sooner or later he will have to choose whether or not he wants to leave Heaven behind for the hell the world has become.

* * * * * * *

Heaven may be all right, but there is a place that is truly considered to be heaven on earth. It is called Avalon, and it is situated in a remote area of Antarctica. The blind seer known to most only as Destiny established this oasis. None but a few know her by sight, and only one knows her by name. 

Avalon is for those pure of heart and spirit. People and mutants are ferried to its shores by the shape-shifting mutant woman known to some as Mystique and to others as Raven Darkholme. Mystique has done much evil in her lifetime, and finds she cannot bring herself to enter Avalon's gates. She is also the mother of two of Apocalypse's most powerful enemies. In this way she takes a stab at Apocalypse's dark heart for all the evil he has done to her in her lifetime. However, Avalon is a large thorn in Apocalypse's side, because it is a place where humans and mutants can live together in peace, a thorn that must eventually be removed.

* * * * * * *

Finally we reach Apocalypse's greatest foes of all. They call themselves the X-Men. They are the most powerful mutants on the planet, with the exception of the mutants that choose to follow the way of Apocalypse. They are class A, the highest genetic class a mutant can be. These are their names listed in order of rank:

Magneto _Leader_

(Erik Lensherr)

Rogue _Second in Command_

(Real name unknown)

Gambit _Leader of Blue Team_

(Remy Lebeau)

Quicksilver _Leader of Gold Team_

(Pietro Lensherr)

Sabretooth _Blue Tracker_

(Victor Creed)

Weapon X _Gold Tracker_

(Logan)

Jean Grey _Lead Telepath_

Exodus _Second Telepath_

(Paris Benoit)

Morph _Shape-shifter_

(Sydney)

Storm _Weather Mistress_

(Ororo Munroe)

Nightcrawler _Lead Teleporter_

(Kurt Darkholme)

Blink _Second Teleporter_

(Clarice Ferguson)

Dazzler _Light Conjurer Blue_

(Allison Blare)

Jubilee _Light Conjurer Gold_

(Jubilation Lee)

Sunfire _Fire Conjurer_

(Shiro Yoshida)

Sunspot _Heat Conjurer_

(Roberto DaCosta)

Iceman _Ice Conjurer_

(Robert Drake)

Banshee _Sonic Screamer_

(Sean Cassidy)

Strong Guy _Super Strength Blue_

(Guido Carosella)

Colossus _Super Strength Gold_

(Pioter Niklieovitch)

Shadowcat _Phaser_

(Kitty Pryde)

Together they make up one of the strongest teams fighting for one of the noblest causes. They fight for a world free of prejudice and hatred. They fight for a world where humans and mutants can live together in peace. A long dead man named Charles Xavier started this dream long ago. Holding him in his arms, Magneto promised him before he died that he would carry out this dream. This dream for which people have given their lives and taken other's lives as well. Sometimes his followers question why they fight for someone else's dream, someone else's idea. Then they look within themselves and find that its not just one man's dream, its theirs' as well. It has become their goal to strive for peaceful coexistence. Some of them, however, still struggle to find the answer. Yet they figure fighting for the dream is better than fighting for the nightmare. 

* * * * * * *

We join the X-Men on this, the morning of their largest evacuation procedure. Everyone is tense. Everyone is nervous. Everyone is moody. They are trying to get the flatscans, humans if you will, across the Atlantic to Eurasia. The task is, at least in one word, complicated. They can hardly hear Magneto's voice yelling over the crashing of the surf, and the whistling of the wind. One slip up is all it will take to send them on their way to Hades; one mistake and they're goners. Okay maybe more than one.

"Gambit!" Magneto yells over the surf, "Are the Sentinels coming yet?" He is just a little bit nervous. The Sentinels were supposed to be there over an hour ago, and still there has been no sign of them. It was getting to be pretty difficult hiding 3,000 humans off the coast of formerly Eastham, MA from Apocalypse's scanners. 

Gambit runs back to him up the shoreline at a pace that even Quicksilver would be proud of. "Not a sign. 'Dem robots was sposed ta be here over an hour ago! You tink maybe dat Bolvar Trask set us up? You never know who be workin' for Apocalypse today." Gambit is an uneducated Cajun. That's the worst kind according to Magneto. However, even Erik must admit that Gambit has proven himself to be an asset to the team. Gambit is a born leader. He doesn't take any nonsense from anybody, and is respected for it. Not only that, but he has a way of keeping everybody's hope up, and befriending anybody. There's just something about him that makes you want to trust him. That is if you don't know him very well. 

As a child Remy Lebeau was adopted into the Thieves Guild. He's killed men for belonging to another association, and tortured innocents just to steal their valuables away. That is the Thieves code of honor, and that is all Remy has ever known. Thank goodness thieves can change, although maybe not because they want to fight the good fight, sometimes it is for quite another reason.

"No Gambit, Bol-I-var Trask would not help Apocalypse, I have known him for much too long. He would not betray us." Magneto has always been a quiet man, not exactly leader material. Why then do they follow him, he wonders? Maybe it is because of the promise he made long ago to a dying friend. He can still remember the words that were spoken on that day. 

"Magnus, I need you to promise me something. Promise me that you will carry on my dream for peaceful coexistence. Promise not to let a mutant as powerful as that one control the earth." Charles had said this to him, after that attack by the crazed mutant child was over. Charles was seriously wounded during the fight, and they both knew that there was no way he was going to survive. 

"But Charles, I'm only one man. I can't change the world. I will promise you that I will try, but like I said I'm just one person." He had answered him foolishly, and what Charles Francis Xavier said to him at that moment would stick in his mind forever.

"Erik you can't imagine the difference one man can make. Remember, any dream worth having is a dream worth stri..." Charles Xavier never finished that sentence, but Magnus knew what he had wanted to say. He had said it to him many times before. Now those words are engraved on Xavier's tombstone and in Magneto's head. "Any dream worth having is a dream worth striving for, because you can't imagine the difference one dream can make." And Magneto has never stopped wondering if the world would be different if Charles Francis Xavier had not died that day. "Don't worry Gambit." Magneto answered him. "I know Bolivar. He would not betray me."

"Yeah, dat's what you said bout Abyss!" Gambit mutters under his breath. At one point in this war Magneto had a student who was, unbeknownst to them, working for Apocalypse at the same time, Abyss. Unfortunately Apocalypse paid him to defect. Abyss almost caused them to lose the whole war. If they had been captured, every human on the planet would be dead. However, they received word of his plan just in time and were able to escape, and secure a new location of operations. 

All of a sudden a loud roar comes over the crashing of the waves, the roar of.... "Sentinels! Magnus they're here! Morph git those humans ready ta go, we got to git them out o' here 'fore the Big 'A' finds 'em." Banshee yells, trying to prove he is just as capable of leading the Blue team as Remy. Gambit has other ideas on that matter.

"I call de shots Banshee, don' you foget dat. Rogue, go meet up wit dem an make sure dat Bolvar got dat cloakin' device workin'. Dazz we could use some light ta make sure dat dey is who we tink dey are." Gambit takes charge of everything as usual, leaving Magneto some time to think, before the explosion that is, and the scream of Gambit as he sees the woman he loves plummet to the ocean floor. "_Rogue! No!_" 

"It is all right Remy," yells Storm as she flies in with Rogue in her arms. "I caught her, she is safe. We must transport her out of here now. Those were definitely the Sentinels, but Apocalypse's forces are trying to drive them out of our reach. Nightcrawler, take Rogue and teleport her out of here, NOW!"

Gambit watches Rogue's brother carry her away to safety, and then he loses it. "Damn you Apocalypse! I'll kill you one way or nother! You gonna pay! Big time." Rogue means everything to Gambit; she is his whole life. If he were to lose her, he would lose everything that was ever dear to him. She taught him how to love, and he can never repay her for that.

"Clarice start teleporting those humans over to the Sentinels, they can't get any closer without being severely damaged." Quicksilver yells, running the screaming humans back and forth from behind the defenses to the portal Blink is getting ready to set up.

Adrenaline is running high. They haven't slept in over two days. They're relying on their nerves and reflexes. Then it's over. Most of the humans made it, but not all. They would like to mourn for the humans, but they find no tears, only an emptiness engulfing their souls. Not a sadness really, just a lack of emotion. However, even if they found themselves able to cry there would be no tears left, they would have already been shed so many times over. So with a heavy heart they return to the place that under different circumstances they might find themselves calling home.

* * * * * * *

Rogue hears the soft knock on the door before her would be nurse does, and knows who it is before he can even open the door. "Hi Remy. How was the evac?" He enters the room, trying to avoid noticing the glare he receives from her slightly overprotective brother.

"Eveyting went jus' fine, but not all da norms made it fore Apocalypse drove us outta dere. We had ta leave em behind." He knows better than to try and hide their semi-failure from her, she can read him like a book. "We almost lost Jubes. She's fine though. Jubilee gon be jus' fine." Jubilee is their adopted daughter. They hadn't known that she was a mutant when they adopted her. They took her in after her parents and other siblings had been slaughtered under Apocalypse's hand. They've always been grateful that they were there to rescue her, otherwise she would have been lost in the cullings long ago, and their lives would be totally different

"How many'd we lose?" She asks, and seeing the reluctance in his face knows it was more than she wanted to hear. "Nevah mind, by that look on yoah face ah don't think ah wanna know. Kurt was tellin' me that yah lost control again. Didja?" 

Gambit doesn't answer her; he just nods his head in shame. Rogue always tells him to watch his temper, but when she's involved he finds it impossible. He just can't seem to control his emotions when it comes to her, Jubilee, and the little boy just entering the room in the arms of his uncle.

"Mien sister, somebody has been waiting for you to come home. Haven't you mien freund." Kurt is carrying something that is worth more than gold. He is carrying their son, Charles.

"Hey buddy, Momma missed you." At the sight of him all Rogue can do is smile. He is hers, her son, and she isn't going to let Apocalypse get ahold of him. Never, no matter what it takes to keep him safe.

"Momma! Dadda! Unkie Kurt want down!" He yells as he tries to run across the room, almost falling before Gambit can catch him.

"Watch out." He says as he picks Charles up. "You'll hurt yourself. Chere, I'm gon' go check on Jubes again, be right back." He kisses them both on the head, hands Charles over to his mother, and walks out of the room and down the hall to see his daughter.

* * * * * * *

"Father may I speak with you?" Pietro asks this with a bit of uneasiness. Though Magneto is his father, the two have never been close. What closeness they had died with his sister Wanda. Wanda was Quicksilver's mother, father, sister, friend, and better half since the day they were born. She was his twin after all. Never, could he be that close to anyone ever again. However, that feeling didn't apply to Storm. 

"Of course son. Come in. I wasn't expecting you. If it is the evacuation you would like to talk about, I'm sorry I told you to retreat. I am aware that we could have gotten the last four hundred out if we had surrounded Apocalypse's forces."

"It is nice to hear you admit that." He is shocked that his father is so open about his mistake. Usually the rule is Magneto is never wrong, everybody else is. That isn't the reason he wanted to talk tonight, but at least it was a topic of conversation, something to break the ice. Nothing bothers Quicksilver, he has always known how to get what he wants, the way he wants, or find some other way to get it. However, his father is the only thing that really, truly scares him. "Father, it's about Storm. I don't think you should send her on this scouting mission…"

* * * * * * *

Jean is exhausted. From staying in mental contact with Moira for two days, and carrying screaming kids to Blinks portal, she has learned that even the most energetic person has limitations. She feels like she could just drop. So of course there has to be somebody knocking at her door. "Yeah, what do you want?" She yells from her bed, not wanting to move.

"Jean, its Logan. Can we talk for a little bit?"

Talk? Yeah right. More like screw around for awhile, and right before she gets to sleep he'll start snoring and keep her up half the night, until he decides that he should really go back to his own room. Of course by then she has to be up in an hour anyway, so there's no point in trying to sleep at all. Why couldn't he just let her sleep, just for one night at least? Couldn't he see on the Blackbird how absolutely exhausted she had been? Did he even care? "Not now Logan. I'm so tired right now I think I'm going to pass out. Tomorrow, all right?" Please just let me sleep, she says to herself, as she goes to look through her keyhole to see if he shows any signs of leaving.

"Jean, all I want to do is talk. I promise."

"About what?" She asks him, as she readies to open the door, since it is obvious that he's not going anywhere until he at least talks to her, face to face.

"It's about the evac. Look, Erik screwed up royally, an' I know it. I think he mighta done it purposefully, ya know."

"Oh all right, come in and tell me what you think he did this time." By now Jean and the others were used to Logan inventing his own unfounded evidence, constantly trying to prove that Magneto works for Apocalypse. Nobody ever believes him, but the stories can be at worst stupidly moronic, and at best absolutely hysterical, leaving all of them laughing about it for days. At least they kept life around the house interesting.

* * * * * * *

Ever since this whole thing started Banshee has been almost a manic depressant. He loved Moira McTaggert with all his heart, but he is a mutant, and when she found out she left him. Being abandoned left Sean more than just slightly depressed. So he got into the habit of spending most of his free time in the presence of the ever high spirited Bobby Drake, especially after having to see Moira the day before.

"Hey Sean you look like Magneto on a good day! What put you so down in the dumps?" Although Bobby says this sarcastically, he really is concerned for his friend. He has seen this look on Banshee's face before, and knows that it's the true depression shining through. This usually happens every time they get in contact with Moira. "Hey I know what you need Banshee ol' buddy how's about a nice ice-slide, hum. Okay no ice-slide." Bobby says, as Sean gives him a dirty look. "Then how about some ice-cream? Everyone loves ice cream. No ice-cream, then how about a slush?" Sean just continues to shake his head no. "Come on Cassidy help me out here, I'm drownin'!" Banshee catches the joke just in time, and as Bobby had hoped, it cheers him up a little.

"Ye aren't meltin' yet Drake, so ah donna see how ya could bae." Banshee answers, with the shadow of a smile showing on his face. "Ah know ye like ta joke an' all man, but that one was pretty lame!"

"Well fine, don't appreciate my sense of humor." Bobby, seeing that he's starting to have an effect, decides to keep the joke up, and keep the humor neutral. "I guess I'll just have to leave then. No, don't try to stop me. I've made up my mind. You won't have Iceman to laugh at anymore, no siree. I'm gonna walk right out that door all by myself, and you'll never hear from me again. I'll leave right now and I . . . ". Suddenly, someone who has never had any patience for Bobby's sudden flairs of drama cuts him off.

"If you're going to go, then go! And be quick about it too!" yells Sunfire, very impatient to get back to his reading. "This is a library after all! If you want to fool around you should go see Morph."

"That's it! Come on Banshee ol' buddy. If Morph can't make you laugh, nobody can! Then you'll be in danger of turning into poor Shiro here. With no friends, no sense of humor, and the best head to roast marshmallows on this side of the Mississippi!" Iceman says, as he dashes out of the room, while avoiding the sparks that are literally flying from Sunfire's overheating epidermis.

* * * * * * *

"Hey Exo, buddy. What's up?" Dazzler asks her best friend Exodus. Dazzler and Exodus met while working in a lab for Magneto himself back in the 80s, before most people knew there were such things as mutants. They thought that they were the only two mutants in existence, and the bond they formed withstood even the introduction of thirty other mutates.

"Nothing much," he answers, "except for that shape-shifting boyfriend of yours!"

"What do you mean?" she asks him, wondering if she truly wants to hear the answer. "What's he planning?" Dazzler's boyfriend, Morph, was a shape shifter. It made the relationship interesting, not everybody could say they were dating a helicopter. However, Morph liked to take advantage of his abilities. Some looked upon it as a training exercise to be ready for everything, others as an annoyance. Exodus saw it as funny, but out of everybody, Dazzler alone saw it as an adventure.

"He's not planning anything." Paris answers her. "I mean look up!"

Suddenly, she hears a voice drift down from the ceiling, and needs no further explanation. "You stinking, rotten, over-grown kid, you spoil everything." He says as his voice descends, with him nowhere in sight. "Hang on, can you see me? Guess what, I'm a dust particle! Or at least one of them anyway. Have you ever seen a hundred different clones of yourself, and wondered exactly who you are? It's a very soul searching experience. Exo, if you ever find out you have a soul, I'd suggest you try it! Hiyah schweetheart. I tink maybe you miss me, no?" Like she thought. It was always an adventure. It took him some time to change back from a piece of dust, with a lot of sneezing on the side. But, eventually he was the white faced Morph that everybody loved to hate again.

"Morph, honey, stop showing off please," she says, knowing full well that Morph must be Morph, and Morph must show off.

"Yes darling. I promise on my honor to behave to the best of my ability." He says, deciding that boyscout attire might make him look more convincing.

Just as he finishes returning to his normal self again, Iceman comes galloping, if you've ever seen ice gallop, into the room, with Banshee in tow. "Morph, we got a major problem here! I can't make Banshee laugh!"

"Really? Well the pupil is never as skilled as the master. Let me take a look at him." Morph says, he tries tickling, and the result is Banshee letting out a small laugh, one barely audible to those not right in his face, as Morph was at the moment. However, the small chuckle was enough to satisfy Morph and calm Bobby's spirits. "What we have here is a perfectly healthy Rogue level patient, doesn't laugh often, but if there's a reason to might. He just isn't in the mood to laugh is all. Speaking of Rogue, anybody know how our fearless leadress is doing?"

* * * * * * *

While Colossus's room was in the process of being repaired/rebuilt, he was stuck rooming with Sabretooth. It wouldn't be so bad if Victor was somebody the Russian could stand, but Sabretooth was far from being Pioter's best friend any time soon. What made the arrangement especially impossible though, was the fact that there were really three people in Creed's room.

There was always Victor's friend/pet, Wildchild. Victor found Kylie, half frozen in the Canadian wild. Victor saved his life, learned his language, and took him in. It wasn't something that either of them would likely soon forget.

"Sabretooth, would you kindly remove this animal of yours. He is chewing on my shoes, and I need them tonight." The metallic Russian complains to his would be roommate.

"You want him moved Ruskie, you move him. They ain't my shoes, so they ain't my problem. Sides Kylie ain't an animal; he understands more than you probably do."

Just then came the unmistakable sound of Blink teleporting in. Since Clarice is Victor's adopted daughter, he is always the first person to greet her at the end of a mission, and so at the noise he heads down the hallway to welcome her home. But instead of seeing her smiling back at him, he is greeted by a large crowd of people, trying to dodge lightening, while being soaked through with rain, and knocked down by gale force winds, all within four walls. It doesn't take a genius like Magneto to know that something ain't kosher.

* * * * * * *

"Storm, you must regain control of your powers!" Magneto yells, trying to see if he can solve this dilemma without seriously injuring Storm, or letting her seriously injure someone else. "Peitro, create a wind wall around Storm. All right, Gambit knock down those walls. I hope this works."

"Gambit wait! She's got it under control." Peitro yells rushing to his loved one's side. "Kurt, I need you, now!"

As Magneto watches Storm being brought to the infirmary, he knows that whatever caused Storm to lose control had to be big. For he knows that Ororo never loses control, ever. Which makes him doubt he wants to know what it was.


	2. The Holocaust

"Ororo what was it

"Ororo what was it? What was so important that you had to risk having Blink teleport you here." Quicksilver asks her, dreading the answer.

"Something worse than you could ever imagine, Peitro." Ororo moaned on the pallet in the infirmary, physically shaking from the sights still flashing before her eyes. "He has started the cullings again. This time led by Holocaust. They're in Chicago right now."

Of course Peitro and Ororo aren't exactly alone, they're never alone. "Yeah right 'Ro. Chicago's been a dead zone for years. Nobody could survive there!"

"Sunspot, I know what I saw. There were thousands still living in Chicago, after it was declared a dead zone." Storm answers, anxious to get an affirmative response from somebody, to get them out there to stop this. "It was horrible." She murmurs, curling into Pietro's arms. "So much blood."

"It's true." Magneto enters the room and everything becomes silent. "I just had Rogue rescan the continent. There are humans living in Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Los Angeles, and Santa Fe. All the areas Apocalypse declared dead zones. It would appear he released this news before he had finished the cullings. Chicago is lost. Boston doesn't have enough for a full culling, so he'll probably save it for last."

"The next place he'll probly head," Rogue finishes, "is Santa Fe. There ah 6,000 humans there, that's double the amount in any ah the othah 'dead zones'. Ah suggest, Rik, that we leave foah Santa Fe immediately."

"I agree. Are there any objections?" Magneto asks. Experience has taught him that all good leaders make mistakes, and the input he has received from his followers is not just important, sometimes it is lifesaving.

"Erik wait!" Gambit says, as Magneto is about to give out his orders. "Now we talkin' 6,000 norms. How we gon' get dem outta dere? We can't put dem all in da Blackbird an' fly 'em back to da mansion! We gotta contact de HRF, let dem know what's goin' on first. Without da Sentnals dem norms good as dead anyway."

"He's right father." Quicksilver agrees. "We can't fight back all the infinite soldiers ourselves, that's suicide! You better contact Dr. Trask and tell him we need 300 Sentinels to meet us at the Gulf of Mexico."

"You're all nuts!" Sunspot says over all of them. "We don't have time to get that many Sentinels. Besides, even if we did, Apocalypse would beat them AND us to the humans. We all know that. It'll only take him three hours to empty Chicago, then another hour to get to Santa Fe."

"No Roberto. We need those Sentinels." Magneto again admits his mistake. "Rogue?"

"Already on it, Rik"

"Gambit, you and your team take the 1 bird. Peitro, your team is in 2. Remy, you're only flying cover for Peitro until the Sentinels arrive. Peitro, I don't want anybody on the ground until they come. Rogue, you're with Remy, I'm with Peitro. Do we have the Sentinels yet?" Erik asks over his shoulder as he heads to the docking bay.

"Yep, we got 'em. They're on their way right now. Should be at the Gulf in two an' a half."

"Then if Roberto's estimate is correct we have an hour and a half to manipulate, let's move everybody." As Magneto heads to the number 2 Blackbird jet, he wonders if this will actually work. Will they be able to save the humans from certain death, or will they place themselves in death's path? The question no longer phases him anymore. It is one that he asks himself at least once a day, "will today be the day I die?" So far that day hasn't come, and it will have to continue to be postponed until the day that Apocalypse himself breathes his last.

* * * * * * *

"B2 to B1. This is Magneto. ETA is 5 minutes. Remember you aren't to land until you're given the signal."

"Copy that B2. Talk ta ya'll in 5 minutes." Rogue once again is in charge, and she turns to her people, the people depending on her to survive. "You heard him people. None ah ya'll are gonna jump ship today, yah hear?"

"Yes Rogue." They all answer in unison like school children answering their teacher.

"Alrighty then. Remy bring us down tah 'bout 20,000 feet. Ah wanna be able tah see them Sentinels when they come."

All is quiet for the next four minutes. Then trouble comes, in the form of smart missiles. "Shit! Nobody tol' us they were armed! B1 tah B2, B1 tah B2. B2 do y'all copy?" Rogue yells into the radio, as the missiles get closer and closer to hitting their target. "Remy, pull up, they cain't reach us past 32,000!"

"This is B2, we copy B1." Pietro's voice cracks over the speakers. "So what the hell was that?"

"Erik dis is Gambit. Look, seems ta me dese here norms don' wanna be rescued. I tink we should bail fore dey take one o' us down."

"What about Bolivar? We can't leave because we can't contact him. He'll be in big trouble without us here." Magneto's voice responds.

"Look Erik, once he see dem missile launchers he gon' hightail it outta here, whether we here or not! Why risk our butts for somebody who won' do da same?" Gambit yells back, still struggling to get the Blackbird level.

"Because it's our job, Gambit, that's why!" Gambit knows deep down that Magneto is right, but since there's no way to take out his frustration right now he hands over the radio, and concentrates on keeping Blackbird 1 in a steady hover above the city.

"Rik its Rogue. Look ah've got an idea. Send Sydney down morphed as a human. We still got some norm disguises in heah, someplace. Then we can at least git some people on the ground. Besides, ah think its them darn superhumans that are causin' all that ruckus down there."

"All right Rogue." Erik responds. "Who's going down?"

"Well there's Sydney ah course. Ah think ah'll go down, an' ah'll take Gambit, Exodus, Dazzler, and Sabretooth with me."

"Hiya Roguey its Sid. Look, um, just remember, if I die, you're the one who volunteered me, all right? Oh yeah, and one more thing, if your taking Gambit, who'll fly onesie? I mean he is the only person that knows how."

"Dammit. You're right, ah forgot. Erik ah'm makin' two subs. Ah'm gonna take Sunfire an' Blink instead ah Gambit an' Dazzler." Rogue mutters.

"Okay are you ready?" She can hear Sabretooth asking Kylie in the background.

"Ready as we'll evah be." Rogue sighs under her breath. "Come on people, let's do it."

* * * * * * *

"Okay everybody this way towards the river. Don't panic! Everything's under control. I hope." Morph yells as he tries to herd the stampeding humans away from Apocalypse's scanners. "So, um Rogue, I'm wondering how yah didn't find out about the Big A's new and improved scanner."

"Morph zip it! Y'all got work ta do, so do it!" How did she miss it? How did he keep it a secret? After all, she had talked to Warren not even a week ago. Was he holding out on her? Did he even know? Next time she saw him, boy would she let him have it. "Shiro turn the flame down, youah gonna roast these humans 'fore we can git 'em outta here."

"Yeah Shiro," Morph retorts, "Turn it down a notch, you know don't fry the humans we're trying to protect."

"Look Morph, you an' Exo got this undah control. Ah'll take care ah Sunfire, then ah'll look foah Victor an' Blink. They seem tah have disappeared." Rogue shouts to him through the herd of stampeding humans before she flies up to Shiro's level.

"All right fearless leader lady, whatever you say. Paris, lead them this way, you're sending them off into Utah!"

* * * * * * *

Shiro has seen this before. He has seen thousands of humans decimated within minutes by Apocalypse's son Holocaust, back when he was still called Nemesis. He remembers the cullings in Tokyo. He watched while his family and friends were slaughtered in front of him. He remembers being thrown into a pool of blood. He remembers the blood filling his lungs, and he can still taste it. He remembers the smell of the rotting carcasses, and the pile of human bodies. Why, he wonders, was he the only person in his country that was spared. Now he knows it was so that he could save other people from the same fate. He is the only person alive that has ever actually experienced a culling, and he knows exactly how these humans feel. Lost, helpless, animals running scared from the footsteps of those as powerful as gods. He blesses himself, and in his mind asks the ancestors to protect him, and watch over all the innocents running below him.

"Die Holocaust! I will kill you yet!" He screams, as he destroys scanner after scanner, trying to destroy the hundreds of scanners that fly over the city.

"Ya ain't gonna kill 'im this way darlin'. All youah gonna do is hurt somma them humans down there." Rogue yells to him, as she flies out towards him.

"You do not understand, Rogue, you will never understand! You do not know the pain Holocaust has caused me." She could never know, nor could she ever understand, it was his to deal with, and he couldn't be bothered to try and explain it to her.

"Ah don't want ta hurt yah Shiro, but ah gotta git yah undah control." She slips towards him silently in the air. Slowly Rogue removes one of her gloves and touches Sunfire with her naked hand. Ever since Rogue was a child she has been blessed and cursed with the ability to absorb the essence and powers of whoever she touches. Unfortunately, it was an ability that was beyond her control, and without the help of Magneto, it would have driven her mad and destroyed her life. Absorbing all the people she had made Rogue lose who she was, she couldn't tell the difference between herself and everybody else in her head. With a slight touch Rogue absorbs Sunfire's powers into herself. She also absorbs his memories and his emotions. This is usually slightly overpowering for both people involved, but Shiro's emotions are so strong that she loses all control, causing both of them to hurtle toward the ground.

"Great! She calmed him down too much. Yo Sid, incoming!" Exodus yells, as he sees them both falling.

"Don't worry about it, I got leader lady, you get fire head." Morph yells as he dashes in an all out sprint towards the falling woman. "Oky doky, now that you're not falling on anyone Rogue, you can go find Sabretooth."

"Morph, shut up! Paris, go up tah the Blackbird an' tell Magnus weah gonna need some moah people down here." Rogue says, as she walks over to Sunfire.

"You had no right, Rogue," Sunfire yells at her. "You had no right. That was my pain to bear alone. You shouldn't know. It is my shame, not yours."

"Ah only wish ah knew sooner, Shiro, so that ah coulda convinced yah that it wasn't youah fault." She briefly brushes a sympathetic, gloved hand across his singed cheek, before donning her stone cold battle visage again. "Look ah gotta go find Victor an' Clarice, somehow they've disappeared. We can talk 'bout allah this latah, Sunfire." So Rogue flies off in search of her operatives, and leaves Morph and Shiro alone.

"So what d'ja do that was so bad, huh?"

"That, Morph, is none of your business."

"Okay, geez, I just wanted to know what wasn't your fault. But I'll just mind my own business, and move these people toward higher ground."

* * * * * * *

"Looks like they're doin' a good job, don't it Clarice?" Sabretooth asks, as he looks down at the progression of the evac. "Yah know, from up here this city looks almost beautiful, except for the fires and the crumbling buildings and stuff."

"I guess so, Mister Creed. Look, I know why you brought me up here. All I need is to hear you say it." Clarice mumbles in reply.

"All right, I'll say it then darlin'. I need yah ta teleport me to Holocaust." The words echo hollowly in expectant ears.

"I knew that's what you wanted." She can feel the tears rolling down her cheeks as she thinks about what he is asking her to do. "Why? You know you don't stand a chance against him. You know that you'll be killed."

"Look darlin', I ain't tryin' to kill him, and then come waltzin' back. I just wanna give you some time to get these humans outta here. What's one life compared to six thousand, Clarice?" Victor asks, placing a protective hand on her shoulder.

Blink stops stubbing her toe in the dusty ground for a second to look up into the eyes of a man who is willing to sacrifice himself for people who'd gladly see him dead. "You know what, Mister Creed? This may sound funny, but every night before I go to bed, I pray to God. Sometimes it's just to tell him I'm angry or upset. Sometimes it's to tell him I'm happy when an evac goes well. But every night, no matter what, I say thank you. Thank you for putting Victor Creed on this earth, because you're the person who rescued me years ago from that fire." She realizes it was a mistake after she says it and immediately drops her eyes back down to the ground. "That's how important one in six thousand is to me. I guess it's a little silly, huh?"

Smiling, Creed takes her chin in his hand and lifts it until he can look her in the eyes. "No Clarice, it doesn't sound silly. Now, Blink, I need you to help me get Holocaust. I have my sins to pay for, besides what makes Holocaust think that he can take my place? You gotta help Blink, even if it means I gotta die."

"Not so fast, Creed." Rogue comes up behind them. "Ain't nobody throwin' their life away on my watch!" Then Rogue feels time stand still around her, and she knows there isn't anything that she can do.

"What d'ja do?" Victor stares in shock at Rogue's limp form lying sprawled on the ground.

"Nothing, Mister Creed. I just displaced her for a fraction of a second. She'll be fine in a minute, but you'll be long gone by then."

"Thank you Clarice. You don't know how much this means to me." He says this as he walks through Blink's portal.

"Yes I do, Mister Creed," she says once he is gone, "and you can thank me by coming home."

* * * * * * *

"Yes Paris, what is it?" Magneto asks him over the radio.

"Rogue sent me for backups. We have a real mess down there. Apocalypse has new scanners that we didn't know about, and they're really getting the norms scared."

"Okay, who does Rogue want me to send?" Magneto asks while eyeing the occupants of his aircraft.

"Well, Magnus, she wants Lo. . ." Exodus is cut off by an explosion that almost knocks them out of the sky.

"Never mind the backups. Gambit, we have to get out of here now, they've found us." Magneto yells into the radio.

"You're nuts, Erik!" Gambit yells back. "I ain't leavin' till Rogue finished"

"Gambit now!"

Just then another explosion misses the Blackbird by a couple of inches, and Remy realizes he has no choice but to leave Rogue behind. "Fine Magnus, we're leavin'."

* * * * * * *

"How could you Clarice? You went against my orders, and sent Victor off to his death! I should send you back home for what you did. And where the hell is Exodus?" The plan isn't going exactly as she had planned, and Rogue is plenty pissed about it.

"Paris won't be coming back Rogue," Sunfire says, as he flies back down toward them. "They have left us."

The shock and betrayal she feels are unbelievable. They just left them all alone, without even warning them. Will they ever come back? Why would Remy leave her? He'd come back for them, she is sure of that, but when? Right now she had to worry about getting the rest of the humans out before the infinites got there. "Well then, it looks like we're on our own people. Let's git these humans outta here while we're still breathin', and we'll worry 'bout gettin' home latah." She walks away from them, and starts herding the humans back toward the river. 

"Um Rogue, you okay?" Morph asks from behind her as he follows her back out into the city.

"Ah'm fine Sydney, now get back tah work."

"But I thought that maybe you'd... "

"Now Sydney!"

"Yes Rogue."

* * * * * * *

"I can't believe you Magneto!" Gambit screams "You made me leave her behind, she got left behind!"

"Gambit, calm down, we'll find her, I promise you. Everything will be all right." Magneto tries in vain to calm down the ravaged Cajun, before his office is completely destroyed by his rage.

"How you know eveyting gon' be _all right_? How you know, Magnus, dat she still _alive_? How you know dat I not gon' have ta leave dis room, an go splain ta my two kids why dey ain't gon' see dere Momma ever again? Huh _Rik_," Gambit shouts as he hurtles another glass across the room to shatter on the opposite wall, "how you know dat?"

If he had any idea how much that stung. Rogue had always called him Rik; it was what she had called him since the day she had been delivered into his hands. "Magneto, this is my daughter Rogue, I know that you are far more capable of training her in her special abilities than I ever will be. Rogue, this is your new home, this man will teach you how to fight Apocalypse, and he will protect you from him as well. This is Magneto, Erik Lensherr to be exact." Mystique had made the introductions, quite formally, and then had disappeared. Just left her daughter behind, and had not even told her son that she had visited.

"Well Rogue, I guess you will be staying with us for quite some time." If he had any idea how long she'd be staying. This had all happened thirteen years ago. Rogue was still just a fourteen-year-old child, waiting to be taught, but at the same time dreading everything that living with the X-Men meant.

"If'n ya say so Rik, sure do hope ah like it here, cuz if'n ah don't there ain't no way ya'll gonna make me stay." That was the first thing Rogue ever said to him, and at that very moment Erik Lensherr fell in love. In love with a fourteen-year-old student who would become so much more. Since that moment his love for her has grown, until it is all he can do to hide the jealousy in his heart when he sees Rogue and Remy together. Yet still it grows and grows, but he can never tell her, for what they have now is more important than any love could ever be. They have a partnership, the leadership of all the disciples, all the X-Men. If they lost that, they would lose the team, and so one man's love must be sacrificed for the good of the world.

"Gambit, Remy, I promise you we will find her, whatever it takes, we'll return for them all as soon as..." Magneto gets cut short as Exodus runs into the room screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Magneto, Gambit, we found them! We found Rogue and the others, they're okay, but we found them!" Nobody can seem to completely understand exactly what he's saying, until they see the screen, and Rogue. They looked frazzled, completely out of their minds, but they were all right, and at the moment, that was all that mattered.

* * * * * *

Victor had been freely roaming for about 30 minutes now, something wasn't right. There was no way that Holocaust had gotten that sloppy. Somebody knew he was there, and somebody didn't want him to know that. He couldn't smell anything, or hear anything, or see anything either. Something was definitely wrong, he just couldn't put his finger on it. Fortunately, right then somebody did that for him, well actually put his whole arm around it.

"So, Victor Creed, what brings you skulking back?" Holocaust was big. In his earlier life he had been just a nobody, a normal mutant. He had looked practically human in fact. Now he looked nothing of the sort, he was a skeleton in a bionic suit, literally a shell of the person he once was. Not exactly what Sabretooth expected. "Have you finally decided to come back to Apocalypse, or are you just spying for your little X-brats?"

Sabretooth had once worked for Apocalypse; he had once been the fourth horseman. However, being a horseman can become boring, and slaughtering humans lost the interest it once held. Truthfully that's the only reason Sabretooth thought he had left. "Hey, A' I'm leavin, and don't expect me back any time soon."

"You're leaving me? But Sabretooth, you're so well off here, where will you go?" His response had, at least, been more caring than Victor had expected, but less caring at the same time.

"I donno, I thought maybe them X-people could use me. Seems like they could use somebody who knows what's goin' on. Sides, killin' humans just ain't what it used to be." Victor had shrugged.

"Oh well, you'll be missed. Finding a replacement for you will be tough, but I think I'll manage. I suppose I'll be seeing you again sometime. Good-bye Creed, it's been a great partnership." With that Creed had been free to go. He could've stayed, gone with the X-Men, even gone to Avalon, and it wouldn't have mattered. Nobody would've said a word, because he was Sabretooth, and nobody got in Sabretooth's way. That was then, this is now. After he had left, Apocalypse had adopted this Holocaust brat, given him Creed's old position and free reign of the country.

"Nothing of the sort Holocaust, just thought I'd come back for a visit. I wanted to make sure you weren't filling my position, and by the looks of it you aren't." Surprisingly enough, Holocaust hadn't made a move yet. That made Victor even more suspicious, the normal Holocaust would've been on him in an instant. Of course, the normal Holocaust would've had skin too.

"Very cute Creed. Oh, and who's your pet?" Sabretooth's "pet", Wildchild. He was too human to be an animal, and too animal to be a human. So Sabretooth had taken him in after he left. Most of the time Kylie was asleep, but the chain around his neck could wake him up any time, and now was one of those times. With a yank and a yelp he was up, alert, and foaming at the mouth.

"Kylie, this is Holocaust. Loser, this is my friend, Wildchild. Now, that we got all the formalities out of the way, mind telling me where I am before you kill me?" Victor had a plan, it wasn't a very good one, but it was a plan. All he needed was a little info from Holocaust to make it work.

"Why of course, Creed. Welcome to my Infinite Processing Plant. Here, with the aid of my own artificial river, we are able to produce ten times the amount of soldiers we once were. In fact, this plant provides all the infinites that make up Apocalypse's army. The irony of it is, it's located right here in the heart of New Mexico. Of course, most people don't realize that." There it was, in a nutshell, all the info Creed needed, and then some.

"So, let me get this straight. This here plant is where the Big Guy gets alla his home grown soldiers?" Sabretooth laughed in disbelief.

"You got it. Too bad you won't be alive to share that information with all of your friends." Holocaust finished with a snarl.

"You got all of that, Kylie?" The answer was a form of grunt that only Sabretooth would understand. "All right, go find Rogue." With that Creed broke the chain, and hoped that Wildchild would find Rogue before the Infinites did.

* * * * * * *

There were Infinites behind him; Wildchild could hear them coming. He knew he couldn't run much farther, eventually they would catch up to him. If only he could find Rogue before they could. Then his prayers were answered, but not in the way he expected.

"Why Wildchild, you dirty, rotten animal you! How did we ever let you escape? Soldiers, how did he get loose?" It was Holocaust, definitely none other than the horseman himself.

"Sir, you saw Creed set him loose. How did you get here so quickly?" The stunned soldiers screeched to a halt, saluting their overlord nervously.

"Oh, never mind that now. How dare you question me! Now what should we do with our little friend here?" Holocaust snarled as he picked Wildchild up by what was left of his chain.

The Infinites looked confused, something was wrong. "We don't know, sir. It's your decision."

"Hey, I have an idea! Let's put on a play!" This was definitely a different Holocaust than before, more of a brainwashed version. "Yes a play, I have the costumes. You two can be the wacky neighbors, and I get to be the lead, but that goes without saying." At that the Infinites felt the heat of the sun behind their back, and knew they'd been duped.

"Turn around soldiers, and prepare to face me." Sunfire let loose all the fire and heat that he had been holding back since he first entered the city, and laughed as he watched their charred remains get blown away by the wind.

"Oh Shiro!" The half Morph half Holocaust person yelled. "You always ruin my fun."

"Fun Morph? Millions of people are being slaughtered, and still, all you ever think about is fun. I will never understand you, as long as I live."

"Hey, to every gray cloud there must be a silver lining. So Rogue, what do we do with Kylie here?" Morph asked as he shrunk back to his normal size.

Rogue had no idea, Wildchild's way of communication was totally unintelligible to anybody but Creed. Unfortunately, Creed was rather busy at the moment. 

* * * * * * *

"So Sid, can yah see it yet?" Flying along on Morph's back wasn't the best idea they'd ever come up with, but it was a pretty good one. It was also the only way to get all of them to the Infinite plant that lay just beyond the city limits.

"Yup, I can see it! Holy Mary, mother of God! They built a river! I didn't know you could do that." Of course being a shape shifter had its advantages, including a pair of binoculars whenever you needed them.

"Any sign of Mr. Creed, Morph?"

"No Clarice, he's probably inside the building. You know I may be awesome, but I can't see through walls! Jeez, you start flying and all of a sudden people start thinking you're Superman!"

Rogue had taken all the grief she could from them, and was about to shove all of them through a wall at a moments notice. First Creed goes running off to fight Holocaust, which basically translates into "Creed has committed suicide." Then Magneto and Gambit abandoning them in Santa Fe, New Mexico, not the most wonderful vacation spot at the time. Not to mention Sunfire's brief encounter with insanity, and Morph's never ending relationship with it. It was amazing she hadn't killed them all yet, of course there was always time for that later. First they had a building to destroy, and an X-Man to hopefully save. "All right Morph, land youahself please, we have tah talk strategy. Now Morph, yah mentioned a river?"

"Yup, them damn Apocalypse type people built a river! I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself."

"Okay then, here's the deal..." and with that Rogue begins pulling a plan off the top of her head. They all listen intently and memorize exactly what they have to do. She wonders if it is openly apparent to them that there are some major problems with it, but none of them are disagreeing. She just hopes that nobody will end up dead, well except for possibly Morph.

* * * * * * *

The blow to his skull had been brutal. He didn't know what the suit was made out of, but it hurt. "What are you tryin' to do Holocaust? Tryin' to knock some sense into me? You know that won't work."

"Oh no my dear friend, just trying to give your friends a chance to save you before you die." It was apparent to both of them who was going to win. Sabretooth never had a chance really, Holocaust had always been the stronger, but that didn't mean Victor wasn't going to fight back.

He heard the growl before he realized that it was coming from him, and he smiled as he realized that, for the first time in five years, he was letting it all loose. He became the savage tiger that he was named for; he fought for every inch given him, but to no avail. Darkness, and the one incessant voice that would never go away. "I'm sorry Creed, but you see, there can only be one victor, or should I say winner?" With that, a scream was heard through the night, as one man died, crying tears of blood.

* * * * * * *

"What's that, Lassie? Timmy fell down a well?"

"Morph, would you shut up!" Any human language Rogue could understand, but a series of barks and yelps only meant one thing, aggravation. They'd been trying for twenty minutes and it seemed that Kylie was as irritated as they were. So there was only one thing to do. With a quick lick on the cheek Rogue saw all she needed to see, and knew all she needed to know. "Ah know where Victor is. Or at least where he was twenty minutes ago. Morph, Clarice, I'm gonna need you on this one."

"Well, I'm all set to go." Morph answered, brushing himself off. "But, I think we're missing somebody."

* * * * * * *

"Where is Mister Creed?" The inside of the plant was a wreck. Chemicals, pipes, all were bent, cut, spilled, and completely useless. Not three minutes ago, this plant had been fully operational, just goes to show what happens when you make certain people angry.

"My dear child, who might you be?"

"I'm Blink, Holocaust, and I'm the person who's going to kill you." She replied, crouched in a battle ready stance facing off the most deadly opponent in the game. Never in her life had Clarice thought this would be her. She had always been the rich girl on the block, gone to all the private schools, had the most popular friends. When Apocalypse took over the money disappeared, the schools were deserted, and the friends were killed. Clarice was left alone, saved by one person, Victor Creed. That was when the mutant part of her took over, and she became Blink. Even after that, she never imagined that some day she would have to face one of Apocalypse's most powerful horsemen alone.

"I think, my dear, you misunderstood the question. You see, Clarice, I know who you are. I was asking, who do you think you are destroying my plant _all alone_?" Holocaust himself couldn't help but be impressed. A girl of only 17 had, in just a couple of minutes, destroyed what it had taken him almost a year to build. But he knew how to get to her, just like everybody else, and that "all alone" statement had been picked for a reason. "By the way my dear, Creed would've liked you to have this."

The shiny object is thrown to the floor, and clinks against it as it lands. Blink cautiously leans over to see what it is, and almost falls. Creed had been a part of a special program in Canada for some time. This program was considered to be a government project, so military procedures were followed, which included dog tags. Those dog tags now lay on the floor in front of her, and confirmed her deepest fear; Sabretooth wouldn't be coming back. She felt like dying herself. She felt like sitting on the floor and crying until there were no tears left. Most of all, Blink wanted to destroy Holocaust where he stood. Right then it seemed to be the best option. Chink by chink pieces of bionic suit started to disappear. But Holocaust was still his sharp old self, and this was nothing to him.

"I'm sorry my dear," he said as he picked her up by the waist and started to squeeze, until she felt like her ribs were being crushed. "You see, I can only take you teleporting away so much of my suit before the effects become dangerous. It is a shame, Clarice, you would've fit in so well with us." She manages to let a squeak escape from her in response, but that is all, that is all she needed.

"I'm sorry Holocaust, but I'm not just gonna stand here and watch you kill my friends. Don't you realize we X-people always travel in herds?" It was Morph. Of all the people Blink expected to see at that moment, he was at the bottom of the list.

"Well then Sydney, why don't we play a game of catch." Holocaust hurls Blink across the room, hoping that all the squeezing would have disorientated her. However, it made everything so much clearer and sharper. Within a split second Blink transported herself behind Holocaust, and used her momentum to send him flying into a tank of chemicals.

"Morph!" Unfortunately, she herself also heads that way. Saved, by a wall called Sydney, from the vat and the splash, she sits and collects herself, until the roar comes.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Do you really think you can destroy me!" Holocaust had lived, and he was not happy about the bath.

"Wow! The tin man survived. Hey everybody, let's give the guy a hand." With that Morph slammed Holocaust into the floor and suddenly Morph wasn't Morph anymore. Morph was Rogue, and Blink was confused.

"Rogue." A breathless Holocaust stammered. "Why didn't you let me know you were coming, I would've dressed up for the occasion."

"Cuz, it's called a surprise attack, Holocaust. I thought you were sposed to be the smart one!" Suddenly, the true Morph stood in the rather large gap in the wall, with Shiro not far behind.

"That's right Holocaust, an all ah wanted was ta git close enough ta do this!" With one blow Rogue shatters the entire right arm of Holocausts suit, leaving him more vulnerable than he's ever been in his life. "Ah told yah once already, ah'm not gonna jist stand here, an' watch you kill allah mah people."

"Well then, Rogue, I suggest you stand over there." It would've been powerful enough to break a normal person in two. As it was it sent Rogue flying head first into a wall. This had happened before, and later they had laughed about Rogue's concrete head. This time was different, this time Rogue wasn't getting up.

"Blink, Shiro, take care of him, I gotta go check on Rogue." Unlike all the other men on the team, Morph wasn't in love with her; he never had been and never would be. He just admired her; she was everything that he dreamed of becoming. She was strong, fearless, smart, and respected. She was his idol, and now she was lying motionless on the floor, and Morph would do anything to get his idol back up on her pedestal. After all, what good is a fallen angel with broken wings? "Rogue," he whispers, as he tries to shake her awake, "Come on Rogue, get up. We've already lost one today; we don't need to make it two. Rogue, please get up." No response, so he tries a different tactic. "Momma? Momma up! S'okay Momma, up. Peez, for Dada, an Juju, an me?" A stir followed by a groan, then a twitch, and then she was awake and alert.

"Charles?"

"No Rogue." Morph couldn't help but let a little smile cross his face. "It's me, Charles is back home safe. It's only me."

"Thank you, Morph. Now let's get back to business."

During Rogue's brief blackout things had not been going well. Blink was tiring fast, and Shiro was using up flame faster than he could gain it back. At this rate the two of them wouldn't survive two more minutes. Fortunately, at that very second, a wall of ice six feet thick was between them and Holocaust, and a familiar face was standing in the improvised doorway. "Come on everybody" Bobby Drake screamed "it'll only take him a minute to break through that, Kurt's got a portal ready. Where's Creed?"

"We'll explain later." Rogue yells back, as they run for their lives. However, in the commotion of the escape the X-Men failed to notice a stranger run through the portal behind them. At the moment all that mattered was that they were home, they were safe, and most of them had survived, most.


End file.
